Projects

Impetus for the development of a project

The impetus for the development of a project usually comes from the more than 850 cooperation companies of NORDAKADEMIE which, in the course of their business activities, come across concrete questions in the field of corporate law which are then analysed by the Institute and - if promising - further research is carried out.

Here the Institute is particularly interested in finding a scientifically sound but at the same time practice-oriented solution which also provides a legally secure starting point for the legal practitioner.

In addition, the scientific advisory board regularly provides the impetus for the implementation of research projects which appear promising to it from the perspective of external consultants or in-house counsel.

Research Project "Compliance"

Compliance has its legal tradition in the Anglo-American world. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has been in force in the USA since 1977 and concerns the compliance organization. Effective compliance management systems (CMS) can be taken into account to mitigate punishment. Today, many important legal systems have corresponding legal anchors (such as the Sapin II Act in France or the UK Bribary Act in Great Britain).

In Germany, too, the importance of compliance has increased considerably in corporate practice and case law. In particular, its liability-reducing and sanction-mitigating effect has moved it into the focus of corporate and legal consideration. However, German law does not yet have a legal definition or a specific standard. The Siemens-Neubürger ruling by the Munich I Regional Court in 2013 sets a precedent in this respect, requiring management to set up an efficient CMS as part of its organizational duties. Compliance violations can therefore have consequences under criminal, regulatory or civil law. The German Corporate Governance Code (GCGC) also regards compliance as a component of responsible management and describes it as "compliance with statutory provisions and internal guidelines". However, compliance is not clearly classified either in relation to corporate governance or in relation to the risk management system as defined in the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG).

However, as a result of the Wirecard case, the planned Financial Market Integrity Strengthening Act (FISG) will for the first time result in changes for companies to the effect that a CMS - in a way that is still unclear - will become mandatory in companies.

Against this background, the two-year compliance research project at the Institute for Applied Business Law at NORDAKADEMIE deals with the "legal rediscovery" of compliance management and sheds light on opportunities, risks and possibilities for implementation or adaptation in the company organization.
The draft of the Association Sanctions Act announces the introduction of German corporate criminal law and reveals all the more the urgency of a legally secure framework with regard to compliance; the same applies to the EU Whistleblower Directive to be implemented in 2021. Last but not least, the project will address the question of appropriate measures, personnel responsibilities and international standards.

Scientific exchange will be promoted through several conferences. Current findings will be presented in the course of the project within an anthology and the results will be presented in a final publication.

Research Project "German-Chinese Economic Relationships"

The Institute worked on a third-party funded study "M&A in Germany and China - Investor Relations under Complex Framework Conditions" until December 2020. More information on this project can be found at chinainvestmentproject.wire-institut.de.

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In addition, there will be other third-party funded projects in the area of ESG.